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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28270779">How High's the Water, Mama?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/only_blue/pseuds/al-the-remix'>al-the-remix (only_blue)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Men's Hockey RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Blood Drinking, Boat Sex, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mildly Dubious Consent, PWP</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:29:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,819</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28270779</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/only_blue/pseuds/al-the-remix</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Why had this creature picked him when Zhenya was a broke loser who couldn’t find someone willing to shack up and nest with him for a week? What could the merman have possibly smelt on him to make him think that Zhenya was worthy?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>131</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Sid Geno ABO Fest</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>How High's the Water, Mama?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>"Water Mama" a South American water sprite or mermaid. "How High's the Water, Mama?" a song by Johnny Cash. </p><p>Thanks to sevenfists for betaing!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zhenya dropped his cooler into the bed of his rented boat with a satisfying <em>clink</em>.</p><p>It wasn’t a big boat. Zhenya had picked this one out in particular when he still thought his friends might actually join him. He should have probably thought that one through a little bit more thoroughly. It was heat week, the break near the end of the spring term, and all of his friends were off nesting with their significant others. Zhenya used to love heat week; it was always a party where everyone smelt <em>ripe</em> and most importantly <em>single</em>. Now everyone his age was bonding and <em>sharing apartments</em> and Zhenya just felt like a creeper hanging around the beach during heat week with all of the undergrads. Yeah, maybe he was too old for that now, but he still missed it.</p><p>At least Zhenya wasn’t bitter about it at all. The solitude was just fine; this would be a great moment for some peace and quiet and self-reflection. Three things Zhenya was awesome at. He was an adult who could entertain himself. It wasn’t like he was bored.</p><p>He drove the motorboat out to a secluded spot near a sand bar he was familiar with. That was one of the best advantages of being in the marine biology department at U of M. There were so few places in Miami where the beaches were actually quiet enough to fish without worrying about hooking some poor tourist by the back of their trunks.</p><p>Zhenya parked his boat just off the tip of the sand bar, cracked a beer, and dropped a line into the water, preparing himself for the long, slow, wait. He used the time to think about all the things he really didn’t actually want to be thinking about. Calling his mother, finding funding, figuring out if that dry skin between his toes was really athlete’s foot or if he just needed to scrub them harder. His mother would tell him this was why he was alone for heat week. “<em>If you can’t take care of yourself, how is anyone else supposed to trust you to take care of them?” </em>It normally ended with a leading “<em>Hmmm?”</em> as if Zhenya was actually supposed to have an answer for that question.</p><p>Zhenya had had a goldfish once, and he’d taken very good care of it. It wasn’t his fault that his roommate hadn’t fed it like he’d promised when Zhenya had gone away to visit his parents for two weeks. If he was bonded with an omega or beta, or even an alpha, he’d never leave them alone with his roommate. His roommate was an idiot.</p><p>Suddenly, Zhenya’s arm jerked forward harshly. He braced himself where he stood and fit the butt of his rod into his fishing belt. Whatever was on the end of his line was heavy. When the line just kept a steady tension, Zhenya assumed that it was caught on a rock or a piece of coral and groaned. That was his favourite lure. If he wanted it back he’d have to dive and get it--but then the line yanked hard enough to pull him against the side of the boat.</p><p>Zhenya had parked himself by a reef; it was shallow here, and he hadn’t set out after anything big. But whatever was on the end of his line gave another lurch and Zhenya braced against it. His arms trembled and he worried for a moment that he’d have to let the whole rod go or risk getting pulled over when the line slackened. All at once, Zhenya realized whatever it was, was swimming <em>towards </em>him, and felt a chill crawl up his spine.</p><p>A pale, sleek shape approached the side of his boat. Zhenya had no idea what he was looking at until it looked up and met his eyes straight on, and he had to brace himself against the side of the boat as his knees turned to jelly. The thing had its arms tucked in close to its sides and it seemed to look through Zhenya rather than right at him.</p><p>Having seen enough, the creature darted away again. What Zhenya had raised from the deep began to twist and turn on the end of his line like some creature of the abyss.</p><p>Zhenya struggled to anchor the rod to one of the holsters on the side of the boat. Slowly, as slowly as he could, Zhenya turned the motor on and guided the motorboat as close to the sand bar as he dared. The creature attached to his line fought him the whole way there.</p><p>Looking over the edge into the water, he felt light-headed. It was shallow enough to reach his chest and the strip of land was <em>right there. </em>Zhenya took the rod tightly between two hands and waded to shore as quickly as he could whilst tugging along the creature.</p><p>He dropped his ass into the sand as soon as he got up the shore, trying to catch his breath. The thing on the end of his line had begun to tire itself out--or at least Zhenya hoped it was. He didn’t really have a plan here. He hadn’t really thought this through, but he couldn’t just <em>leave it</em> with a lure in its mouth.</p><p>The pressure on the line eased up again and in the shallows, Zhenya saw a dark head surface. It crawled further towards him but thankfully stopped because watching it drag itself across the sand with its arms had him close to shitting himself.</p><p>It collapsed on its side against the shore. Its chest heaved in shallow breaths.</p><p>Slowly, Zhenya crept closer. The creature’s head shot up and Zhenya could see the gills on its neck flutter as it hissed at him.</p><p>It was protecting itself, Zhenya reasoned. Despite feeling terrified, Zhenya tried his best to project a calm, unthreatening aura, letting his scent go as mild as it could. Zhenya didn’t even know if merpeople <em>had </em>dynamics the same way humans did. He was close enough now to make out the merman’s square face and broad, smooth chest. Was he an omega that Zhenya could calm or an alpha who Zhenya was just pissing off more by presence alone? Zhenya had no idea. Maybe he was none of these things.</p><p>Whatever he was, he smelled like stress, and all Zhenya could do was wait him out. He sat on the beach and bided his time drawing abstract shapes in the sand, always keeping the silhouette of the merman in the corner of his eye. He tried to draw the merman’s outline but it just ended up looking like a lumpy piece of coral, so Zhenya rubbed it back out with his foot.</p><p>As the sun moved across the sky, Zhenya tried to inch closer, slowly as not to startle the merman. He had a gutting knife in his pocket and a pair of pliers, but he still felt woefully unequipped. It must have been half an hour later when Zhenya had edged close enough to notice that the merman was growing short of breath.</p><p>Zhenya had no idea what combination of breathing systems he used, either. He had never felt more useless than he did at that moment. Maybe his mother was right. He couldn’t take care of that goldfish, and he couldn’t fix the problem that was in front of him now.</p><p>Zhenya pushed himself onto his knees and crawled closer, double-checking that his tools were still in the pocket of his trunks. The merman twisted against the sand in front of him, trying to push himself back up into an upright position, but he was too weak.</p><p>Up close, Zhenya could tell his body was sinuous, all sleek muscle and fat. His ivory scales had a pink iridescent sheen to them. The creature clicked warningly in the back of his throat as Zhenya approached. He was making dry rasping noises as he tried to gulp air.</p><p>“Shh, it’s okay. I’m going to take care of you,” Zhenya soothed. Cupping water in the palm of his hands, Zhenya poured it over the merman’s gill where he lay beached. The merman watched him the whole time with a black, pitiless stare. Zhenya felt the same way he did a second before being clawed by a cat. He could feel those eyes trail him as he shuffled over to scoop up more sea water and pour it over the merman’s neck and chest.</p><p>It must have done <em>something</em> good because the merman slowly stopped hyperventilating and his pupils eased back to reveal gold irises. Gently, Zhenya inched his fingers towards the merman’s cheek, almost certain that this was how he was going to end up losing a finger. The merman didn’t hiss at him again and held still as Zhenya examined where the lure had poked through his cheek. This was something Zhenya was incredibly thankful for as he gingerly prodded the merman’s jaw open.</p><p>Holding his breath, Zhenya felt inside the soft skin of the merman’s cheek till he found the end of the line. The inside of the creature’s mouth glistened pink and Zhenya’s fingers grazed sharp teeth. The merman had two pointed canines like an otter. He seemed to be smart enough to realize Zhenya was trying to help him, or at least Zhenya hoped he was as he held the hook steady and pulled the pliers from his pocket.</p><p>The whites of his eyes were visible as he tracked the path of Zhenya’s hand. Zhenya didn’t want to cut the line in case the merman would bolt as soon as the rod was detached from him, lure still in his cheek. He snipped the barb away first, settling the wire cutters up against the outside of his cheek.</p><p>Zhenya repeated the same process on the inside, cutting away the eye and the line, and pushed the remainder of the lure through the merman’s cheek and out. A trickle of red blood leaked down the side of the merman’s cheek as Zhenya pulled the hook free of the merman’s skin.</p><p>A hand snapped out and caught his wrist. Zhenya sat very still and pushed down the instinct to tear his arm away as the merman gripped him tight and held his arm close to inspect the remnants of the hook between Zhenya’s fingers.</p><p>Zhenya took a moment as an opportunity to admire the merman’s face; it was like a marble statue of a Greek idol lost at the bottom of the ocean. He was that scary kind of beautiful that made Zhenya coldly aware that he was dealing with a creature from ancient myths. Zhenya felt a sudden and uncontrollable swell of desire.</p><p>The merman’s eyes flicked up to him sharply and Zhenya was almost blown over by the force of his gaze before the merman pushed away from him, flopping and shimmying against the sand until he was deep enough to swim away.</p><p>+</p><p>Zhenya had to wade back to his boat, the entire time imagining an iron grip reaching up from the deep to wrap around his ankle and drag him under. Something brushed against his calf, and it could have just been seaweed, but he still launched himself up the ladder and into the bed of the boat.</p><p>When faced with something inexplicable, at least in Zhenya’s experience, the best way to deal with it was always to get beyond hammered. He drank as the sun set and watched the bloated yellow moon hang low in a hazy red sky. The water which had been a clean, crystal blue earlier was now opaque black. Nothing about the landscape felt real, as if Zhenya had been transported to some fantastical shore where crossing paths with a merman was casual and not something that shifted your entire life view in one afternoon.</p><p>Zhenya remembered the look on the merman’s face in those final moments before he had disappeared under the waves; there had been...something. Zhenya wasn’t sure quite what, but <em>something</em>.</p><p>Zhenya opened another beer and slouched back against the floor of the boat where he was lying, looking up at the stars. There were the familiar sounds of the calm waves at night and the few remaining birds in the distance. It was quiet, and that was why the sudden scraping sound of scales against the hull shot Zhenya out of his reverie.</p><p>He was transfixed as two clawed hands grasped the sides of the ladder and the merman hauled himself over the lip of the gunwale. He landed with a wet <em>thud</em> and all Zhenya could do was stare. The merman had come back for him; for what purpose, he did not know.</p><p>The rasping sound made his jaw clench as the merman slithered, dragging himself with his arms toward Zhenya, the same way a seal would move across the sand. He paused just within the ring of light and stopped to push his hair out of its eyes. It was such a human gesture, so casual and yet deliberate. As if he did it every day. Zhenya wished he knew the merman’s name, if he had a name, if he even had a language. Then maybe Zhenya could ask the merman not to eat him.</p><p>The merman made a series of curious clicks in the back of his throat. His pale scales glowed in the moonlight and when he tilted his head to the side his pupils reflected light like a cat’s. The milky film of his inner eyelid swept over his eyes. They were sweet eyes on a sweet face, big and clear. They didn’t hold any of the fear or animosity they had earlier; they almost looked <em>appreciative</em>—and maybe Zhenya had to seriously reassess how much he had drunk, because he was starting to think that that <em>something</em> from earlier was attraction.</p><p>Or maybe it was the way the wind turned just then, because Zhenya was suddenly hit in the face with a waft of ocean breeze and he knew for sure. On the sand bar, Zhenya’s nose had been clogged up with the stench of anxiety and animal fear from both the merman and himself. But now, the edges of the merman’s scent were curled and crisp with <em>heat</em>. A rich, full-bodied heat, like a deep red wine.</p><p>The merman trilled at him inquisitively. It was an answer to Zhenya’s earlier question. He knew what the merman wanted now, but he still wasn’t sure how to proceed. How could he fully believe what he was seeing, what he was <em>smelling</em>?</p><p>Zhenya filtered the merman’s scent through his nose. There were more trills; they sounded saccharine and coaxing. Zhenya had seen the merman’s teeth, heard him hiss at him earlier. Growing up, he had heard stories in books and movies about how a mermaid’s croon could make humans do crazy things. Zhenya could admit he was feeling a little crazy himself. Especially when the merman flicked his eyes at him and rolled his hips to the side so he could flash Zhenya his pink, soft-looking slit.</p><p>Zhenya stared, it was—Zhenya had seen his fair share of bodies in heat and--<em>holes</em>, but this might be the pinkest and softest yet, and the merman looked like he knew it. Zhenya admired his muscular torso; he had many scars and Zhenya wondered how many encounters like this one he had had.</p><p>The merman’s stomach muscles contracted and the slit just below his hip bones grew <em>wider </em>and Zhenya caught a fresh wave of need in the air making his mouth water. The merman wanted his knot. He was flush with heat and slick and ready to be <em>bred. </em></p><p>Clumsily Zhenya got up on his knees and shuffled over towards the merman, not feeling very smooth at all. Why had this creature picked <em>him</em> when Zhenya was a broke loser who couldn’t find someone willing to shack up and nest with him for a week? What could the merman have possibly smelt on him to make him think that Zhenya was <em>worthy</em>?</p><p>The weak light from Zhenya’s boat barely highlighted the pale shape of the merman’s body. When Zhenya was close enough he reached out and touched the merman’s cheek, where the lure had punctured through, still crusty with blood. He scraped at the rusty edges with his nail and the merman blinked up at him with luminous eyes. The merman skimmed his fingers over Zhenya’s neck, till they settled over his pulse. Zhenya found himself being pushed back till he was sprawled against the floor.</p><p>Over him, the merman felt like a wall of solid muscle, and it took very little effort for him to wriggle himself between Zhenya’s legs with the thick power of his tail. He grinded its hips over Zhenya in hitching, searching movements until he made a frustrated grunt in Zhenya’s ear and pushed away from his chest to look down at him in impatience.</p><p>Zhenya reached between their bodies with unsteady hands to push the front of his trunks down until his cock sprang free. He wasn’t sure he had ever been this hard in his life, and when the merman settled back down over him, Zhenya’s cock was pressed up against a molten wet heat so good it almost made his eyes water.</p><p>The merman hitched his hips again until the tip of Zhenya’s cock caught against his slit and slid inside at the perfect angle. Zhenya’s fingers scrambled against the deck, unsure what to do with his hands as the merman sank down on him with a contented coo and Zhenya was engulfed in slick warmth. Finally, Zhenya had the balls to tentatively reach out and find the merman’s flank and <em>squeeze.</em> He was soft around the middle and thick with muscle, his skin smooth and a little slick.</p><p>The merman mostly ignored Zhenya’s groping as he braced himself with his hands to either side of Zhenya’s head and started grinding on Zhenya’s cock with a purpose like he was racing towards some sort of finish line. Zhenya had always liked it when his partner, no matter their dynamic, got bossy in bed, and this merman so clearly just wanted him for his knot. Zhenya was dangerously close to coming already; the merman was rolling his hips over him in smooth heavy motions while lipping playfully at his neck, and then found his wrists and pinned them to the boat. Zhena could feel the webbing between the merman’s fingers and his sharp nails and his knot began to fill at the base of his cock, just like that.</p><p>The merman shuddered, clenching around him with another sweet trill and Zhenya felt himself knot up faster than he ever had before, coming in waves deep inside the merman’s slick, perfect slit. He must have done a good job because the merman was nuzzling at his neck, making soft pleased sounds into his skin.</p><p>He still wasn’t suspecting it when the nuzzling was replaced with a sharp prick to his neck, then a dull aching pain. Zhenya’s back arched off the boat and he struggled against the merman’s grip on his wrists as he sucked blood from the hot seal of his mouth over Zhenya’s neck in deep pulls.</p><p>Zhenya’s heart fought inside his chest like a caged animal as the merman continued to suckle at him until his head had gone dizzy and his fingers numb. Zhenya’s cock twitched and he came again with a moan as the merman clenched again around him. He felt as if he was being sucked for all that he was worth. Just as the stars above him started to blur together and Zhenya was beginning to think that he might just die like this, the merman unlatched and lapped at his neck softly, his hot wet mouth silky against Zhenya’s sensitive skin.</p><p>His wrists were finally released and the merman pulled away from Zhenya looking extremely pleased with himself, his plush lips stained red with Zhenya’s blood, his pupils blown wide as he regarded Zhenya. They were still knotted together and the merman’s hair had begun to dry and curl around the tips of its ears, Zhenya reached out with a sluggish hand and brushed the curls out of the merman’s eyes. The merman blinked at him curiously like he had almost forgotten that Zhenya had been an active participant in this, past his dick and his blood.</p><p>The merman blinked again and cocked his head as if reassessing the situation before slowly and deliberately pressing his face into Zheya’s hand. This time, Zhenya’s heart stuttered in his chest for an entirely different reason as he felt the vibrations in the merman’s neck as he trilled happily at Zhenya. Knowing that this was probably a bad idea and doing it anyways, Zhenya guided the merman back down over him until the merman’s neck was in reach and with as little warning as he had granted Zhenya, pressed his lips to the merman’s skin and bit.</p><p>The merman squeaked and jerked and Zhenya continued to give him what was probably going to be a massive hickey. He didn’t tear himself away like Zhenya thought he would, but rolled, and whipped his tail from between his legs to wrap around Zhenya like a snake. His nails dug painfully into Zhenya’s back but wasn’t <em>crushing</em> him, so Zhenya took that as a good sign.</p><p>Eventually, the merman began to squirm and Zhenya pulled his mouth away. There was a deep red mark on the merman’s neck and he was flushed from his cheeks down to his belly. Zhenya took his moment to gloat that he had clearly done something the merman hadn’t been expecting from him.</p><p>The merman reached his fingers up to touch the mark on his neck softly. Zhenya felt the grip of the tail around his legs loosen, and in maybe the most surprising move of the night, the merman <em>smiled </em>at him. The merman started pushing at his abdomen with excited clicks until Zhenya got the idea and eased his softening cock out and tucked it back into his trunks.</p><p>Zhenya stood on unsteady legs and watched as the merman pushed himself over the side of the boat and splashed into the water--pretty ungracefully. It took barely a moment for his smiling face to pop back over the side of the boat, his excited chirps growing an edge of impatience. Zhenya heard his tail slap the water once, and Zhenya looked over the edge into the ocean’s black depths and swayed where he stood. He could go home, roll into bed, and spend the rest of the week being miserable...or.</p><p>Zhenya took in the merman’s pink face, his eager eyes, and the angry red mark on his neck.</p><p>Fuck it. Zhenya jumped over the edge of the boat and into the water.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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